Not by Appearances

Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture from The book of Luke.

When Jesus went out and appointed the Apostles, He didn’t supply them with special robes or give them papers to prove their ordination. As He walked from town to town, He called out to men everywhere to preach the gospel. He didn’t send them off to college to have them obtain some kind of divinity degree. He didn’t choose them because of their exemplary lives. He commanded them to preach, and immediately sent them into the field. It was on the job training, and they preached what they knew. He didn’t choose Jews who had been religiously educated, but picked common men, who related to common people. He picked men who humbly recognized that they were sinners rather than those who were self-righteous. 

The Lord Jesus was so plain in His appearance, that He couldn’t even be picked out of the crowd when they came to take Him in the garden of Gethsemane. He didn’t wear anything that would cause Him to stand out in the group. Judas had to betray Him with a kiss in order to identify Him to others. If the clothing the original disciples wore was good enough for Christ Jesus, then any modern-day Church should follow suit. This is not happening though, the reason why is because they love to be seen as religious. The Pharisees have returned in full force, except they call themselves Christian. They think that wearing these items somehow makes them holy, but it is only an outward form of religion, just like circumcision in the flesh. It has nothing to do with the status of the heart, neither does wearing a cross around your neck make you a Christian. Clothing does not make the man, although they certainly appear religious to society don’t they!  This is because society is dazzled by appearances, which Jesus warned about. Their robes would serve a better purpose by being cut up into rags and used in the kitchen sink, then being used to promote their own self-righteousness.

Look around you at the false form of Christianity that continues to grow each and every day. Just like the religious leaders of Jesus day, these same types of people have reappeared, and are nothing more than wolves in sheeps clothing. They wear all kinds of fancy outfits, clerical robes, religious gowns, special collars, and all kinds of other items that were never worn nor commanded to be made by the God of Glory 2000 years ago. Nowadays, religious people will wear these items, not only at a religious gathering, but publicly on the street corners of cities. It’s no wonder why Jude taught that we are supposed to contend for the faith that was once given to the saints. 

Since the days of the original apostles Christianity has splintered into two groups. True Christianity and false Christianity. It began years ago and continues today with false Apostles and false brethren who have corrupted the true faith that is contained in the New Testament of God’s Word. They have added things that were never commanded to be done. Even today, people have changed the simplicity of the Gospel into something that is based on appearances rather than an obedient loving heart towards God. 

Some people love riches and wealth, but others, like the devil himself, like to be admired and worshiped. In Acts 14 when people made the attempt to exalt and worship Paul and Barnabas, he restrained them saying that they were just like the rest of them…..common men. You must remember that people judge by appearance, so if it’s a big beautiful building and has a cross out front, people assume in the flesh that it is something that is of God. It is such a sham because some of these Church buildings could be sold and could quickly provide for the needs of poor people in an entire city. But to do that would be like pulling teeth, because they are covetous and greedy wolves who can never have enough. Many of them are filthy rich, and will quickly justify themselves saying that it belongs to the church. If that was the case, then it would be given away to the poor, otherwise it’s just a deceitful lie. They are no different than people Jesus rebuked 2,000 years ago in the temple, who have turned modern Christianity into a money-making scheme.

When Jesus preached to thousands of people, they sat on the grass as He fed them. He didn’t command the disciples to make a huge building, but many of those who profess to be Christian have erected these huge buildings that glorify men rather than God. They would be better off taking the money that they have invested in these buildings and give them to the poor. Jesus taught to give arms of such things as you have. Many unbelievers are more giving than these greedy wolves.

Look how far away modern Christianity has come from the true faith in the last 2000 years. They’ve got these massive structures filled with expensive pews and ornate furnishings rather than meeting in people’s homes as they did at the very beginning. Why waste money on a building when a barn and some hay bales serves the purpose? It’s because they turn the church into a place of merchandise, and hide their hypocrisy underneath their religious robes. Nowadays, they have people preaching in front of the church with a 20-ft high TV screen showing their image behind them. That is one of the greatest examples of vanity that I could ever think of. It isn’t Christianity anymore, it’s a fraud. They have simply returned to what Judaism was 2,000 years ago. Instead of loving God, their truest love was to walk around in their robes and to be seen by men. Nowadays they want to be center stage, but they will receive the greater damnation. Even when the disciples had their first communion, it wasn’t in some special building. It was in the upper room of somebody’s home. My family has had communion out in the woods, at campgrounds, in people’s homes, sitting on the rocks by the river, in a tent, and other places where the surroundings didn’t matter. What matters is our devotion to God in our heart.

So you see, they have turned the true meaning of church into a building that is filled with modern things. They have turned it into a place of merchandise no different than an Earthly business. Eventually when their church group breaks up, they get upset with each other and they all fight like a bunch of kids over who gets the building and its possessions. The true covetousness of the wolf is exposed, like a pack fighting over a killed animal. If there was no building to fight over, maybe they’d get along with each other. They’re like a wife who divorces her husband and tries to milk him for everything he has. Like her, they are covetous, greedy and wicked.

Modern Christianity has become a religion of appearances, where people have no fear of God which would cause them to repent of their wickedness and serve Him out of love. The modern worldview of Christianity is a religion of appearances, rather than the humble conversion of the heart. God doesn’t want pomp and circumstance. He doesn’t want the outward appearance of fancy robes and huge buildings that glorify an seamstress or an architect. God wants our hearts. He wants our loving obedience, as He first loved us. The rest of the religion you can take and throw out the window. You can take the wasted money that you spent on fancy oak pews and burn them in the wood stove. None of this matters to God. John the Baptist didn’t need them, neither did Jesus command them, and when He returns, every religious building that has been created by man is going to be burned up by God. So what was the point of making them in the first place? That means that all the money that you wasted on paving parking lots, installing unneeded carpeting, and creating ornate interiors will only be dissolved. The only thing that’s going to matter at the judgment is if you did the will of God from the heart. The rest of it isn’t worth the time of day, because it has turned into a religion of appearance rather than a religion of the heart.

They have turned Christianity into something that it wasn’t 2,000 years ago. It has become a worldview religion. Instead of obeying God’s call to come out from the world and be separate, they adopt the world and its concepts, trying to make it fit the church. Without a doubt, because of their own and impenitence, they will justify what they do up and down the river, but remember what Jesus taught.

Luke 16  ¹⁴ And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him. ¹⁵ And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

Perhaps God in His wisdom will allow you to be able to differentiate between the true church and the false church. Maybe God will allow you to recognize today’s spiritual wickedness in high places of religious authority. These covetous false prophets and false apostles have never left. They were here in Paul’s time and they are here today, wolves that are continuing to attempt to lead people astray from the truth. Will you be strong enough to close your eyes and resist what you see? Will you serve God in faith,…

….Not by Appearances

Let’s think about these things for right now.  We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody. ❤️

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